They tell the story of a mountain climber who, desperate to conquer the Aconcagua, started his climb after years of preparation. But he wanted the 1 all to himself, therefore, he went up 2.

    He began climbing and it was becoming late. He did not prepare for 3, and decided to keep on going. Soon it got dark. Night fell with heaviness at a very high altitude. Visibility(能见度) was 4. Everything was black. There was no moon, 5 the stars were covered by clouds.

    As he was climbing a ridge at about 100 meters from the top, he 6 and fell. Falling rapidly, he could only see marks of darkness that passed. He felt a terrible sensation of being 7 in by gravity. He kept falling and in those painful moments, good and bad memories 8 his mind. He thought certainly he would die.

    But then he felt a jolt(震动，摇晃) that almost 9 him in half. Yes! 10 any good mountain climber he had supported himself with a long rope 11 to his waist. In those moments of stillness, hanging in the 12, he had no other choice but to shout, “Help me, God! Help me!”

    All of a sudden he heard a 13 voice from heaven, “What do you want me to do?”

    “Save me”.

    “Do you really think that I can save you?”

    “Of course, my God.”

    “Then 14 the rope that is holding you up.”

    There was another moment of silence and stillness. The man just held tighter to the rope. The 15 team says that the next day they found a 16 mountain climber handing strongly to a rope … TWO FEET 17 the ground.

    As the story suggests, sometimes you have to have some 18.If you cut the rope and 19 the result might be out of your 20.

Hillary Rodham Clintons，a Strongwoman

    There are many Hillary Rodham Clintons— the experienced lawyer, the best-selling author, and the first US First Lady to be elected to the United States Senate (参议院).

    Born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 26, 1947, Hillary's childhood was happy and she was well educated. Her parents encouraged her to take up anything that interested her and to be strong.

    When young Hillary returned home from school with straight A's, her father remarked that it must be an easy school. The girl once ran back home crying after someone had hit her at school, but her mother wouldn't let her in. "There is no room in this house for cowards (懦夫)," said her mother.

    A little older, young Hillary put all of her energy into politics. As a student leader, she discussed political issues with friends and researched social problems.

    She entered Wellesley College in 1965. Graduating with high honors, then in 1969, Hillary entered Yale Law School, where she met Bill Clinton, a fellow law student. They got married in 1975. The former president often recalls the day when Hillary went to him and said, "If you're going to keep staring at me, I might as well introduce myself." The two soon became partners in moot court (模拟法庭), political campaigns, and the journey of love.

    When Bill was elected president in 1992, Hillary wasn't content with just being First Lady. From working to reform national healthcare to fighting for the rights of the poor, she refused to stop fighting for what she believed in.

    She was often criticized by her husband's opponents for actively involving herself in politics. But in keeping with her personality, Hillary always kept her head held high.

    "When she takes on a project, she works tirelessly until it is completed," said Betty Lowe, an old friend of the Clintons.

    Women's International Center proudly gave the Living Legacy Award to Hillary Rodham Clinton for her great contributions in so many fields, especially honouring her work for women and children.

    On December 1, 2008, US President-elect Barack Obama nominated(提名)Hillary as Secretary of State.

    The U. S. Postal Service (USPS) is losing billions of dollars a year. The government company that delivers "small mail" is losing out to email and other types of electronic communication. First-class mail amount fell from a high point of 104 million pieces in 2000 to just 64 million pieces by 2014.

    Congress permits the 600.000-empIoyee USPS to hold a monopoly (垄断) over first-class and standard mail. The company pays no federal, state or local taxes; pays no vehicle fees; and is free from many regulations on other businesses. Despite these advantages, the USPS has lost $52 billion since 2007, and will continue losing money without major reforms.

    The problem is that Congress is preventing the USPS from reducing costs as its sales decline, and is blocking efforts to end Saturday service and close unneeded post office locations. USPS also has a costly union-dominated workforce that slows the introduction of new ideas or methods down. USPS workers earn significantly higher payment than comparable private-sector workers. The answer is to privatize the USPS and open postal markets to competition. With the rise of the Internet, the argument that mail is a natural monopoly that needs government protection is weaker than ever.

    Other countries facing declining letter amounts have made reforms Germany and the Netherlands privatized their national postal companies over a decade ago, and other European countries have followed suit. Britain floated shares of the Royal Mail on its stock exchange in 2013. Some countries, such us Sweden and New Zealand, have not privatized their national postal companies, but they have opened them up to competition.

    These reforms have driven efficiency improvements in all of these countries. Additional number of workers have been reduced, productivity has risen and consumers have benefited. Also, note that cost-cutting measures—such as closing tone post offices—are good for both the economy and the environment.

    Privatization and competition also encourage new changes. When the USPS monopoly over "extremely urgent" mail was stopped in 1979, we saw an explosion in efficient overnight private delivery by firms such as FedEx.

    The government needs to wake up to changing technology, study postal reforms abroad and let businessmen reinvent our out-of-date postal system.

注意：1、对所给提示，不要简单翻译，可适当增加细节，使行文连贯2、词数150左右，开头已给出,不计入总词数。3、植入广告：product placement

    The 2010 Spring Festival Gala has set records for TV commercial rates, which accordingly has caused heated discussions due to product placement in the programmes.    

    I received a call today asking if I would be willing to bring food to a family in need. The mother was having a major operation and would be lying down for several weeks. Of course, I responded with an immediate Yes!

    As I planned the meal in my head, I reflected on how many times over the years I had been asked to prepare food. I have done so countless times with a very open heart. But the truly amazing thing is that I have received double over the course of my life. When my mother passed away, our house was filled with fresh dinners for weeks. A woman from the church of our community stopped by each evening with some food. The gift of food was her small way of trying to ease our pain. Later in my life, when I was on bed rest during my pregnancy with twins, women of the church again stepped in to help. They arranged babysitting for my two-year-old daughter, and brought lovely dinners to our house. Even when I was put in the hospital, my husband would bring cooked meals to my hospital room. How we relied on these dinners to feed my tired husband and young daughter. Food is all about comfort. It feeds our bodies, but it can also feed our souls. When you hear people talking about their favourite holidays, it usually includes their feelings connected with sharing food. I know that I will have many more opportunities in my lifetime to prepare food for others. It is truly a gift I want to prepare and deliver to someone in need.

    Chinese students aren't the only ones who have a sleep loss problem. In Australia, teenagers are also missing, on average, one hour's sleep every night during the school week.

    Organized activities and homework push bedtimes later, the first large-scale Australian study of children's sleeping habits has shown. Their sleep deprivation (剥夺) is enough to cause “serious drop-offs in school performance, attention and memory”, and governments should consider later or flexible school start times, said the study's leader, Tim Olds.

    His survey, of more than 4,000 children aged 9 to 18, found those who slept least did not watch more television but spent their time socializing (相处) with family or friends or listening to music.

    “Almost all children get up at 7 or 7:15 — they have to get to school on time,” said Olds. He favors a later start over an earlier finish because he believes organized sports and activities would still consume the latter end of the day.

    Olds' research also establishes lack of sleep as a cause of weight gain in children, and a possible source of future problems with depression, anxiety and increased susceptibility (易感性) to illness.

    It was already known that overweight children sleep less, but Professor Olds found sleep duration(时长) was strongly linked to weight across the full range of body sizes. The thinnest children sleep 20 minutes more than the obese. This showed being overweight had no specific effect on sleep patterns, and it was more likely that shorter sleep times stimulate (刺激) appetite and make kids hungry.

    The US National Sleep Foundation says teenagers aged 13 to 18 need eight to nine hours' sleep a night. Younger school-aged kids need 9 to 11 hours.

    On that basis, Professor Olds said, half of Australian children are under-sleeping on weekdays and a quarter on weekends.

    “The U．S.Food and Drug Administration(FDA)is considering to put stricter limits over tanning salons(晒黑廊)and wants to ban anyone younger than 18 years of age from using a tanning bed，”an advisory panel(专家团)announced last week.

    The panel is calling for tighter controls on the industry such as requiring teenagers to get the approval from their parents before using tanning beds or limiting the use of artificial tanning to a certain age.“Given the absence of any demonstrated benefits，I think it is an obligation for us to ban artificial tanning for those under 18，”said panelist Dr.Michael Olding.

    Along with a possible ban for teenagers，the panel also recommended that visible warning labels should be placed either on the tanning machines or in the salons in order to caution tanners of the possible dangers.In addition，the committee decided that stricter regulations and classifications were critical to make the machines safer.At this time the machines are categorized as FDA Class 1 devices，the ones that are least likely to cause harm.In case the FDA decided to change their classification from Class 1 to Class 2，as advised by the panel，the FDA could limit the levels of radiation the machines emit.Class 2 devices include X­ray machines and powered wheelchairs.

    Getting a tan，whether from a tanning bed or the sun，increases the risk of developing skin cancer.Last year，the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)declared tanning beds as “carcinogenic(致癌的)to humans”．It was discovered that young individuals in their teens and 20s who use tanning beds on a regular basis have a 75 per cent higher risk of suffering from melanoma(黑素瘤)，the deadliest form of skin cancer.According to the American Cancer Society，melanoma accounted for nearly 69,000 cases of skin cancer in 2009 and will account for most (about 8,650)of the 11,590 mortality cases due to skin cancer each year.

注意：1. 短文须包括所有内容要点，可适当发挥。2. 词数：150左右。开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

Dear Mom and Dad,

    The annual college entrance examination is around the corner. On this special occasion, how I wish I could have a heart-to-heart talk with you.

    I am quite confident of my future life and I do wish you good health and a happy life.

Yours ever,

Li Xiang